“Major League Baseball was the first professional league to invest in DraftKings and their partnership over the last five years has been instrumental to our growth and success. Our ties to MLB are as strong as they have ever been. As two organizations that place fans at the core of their business, DraftKings and Major League Baseball will be working closely together going forward so baseball fans around the world continue to have the most engaging experience possible with the sport they love.”

It’s one thing for the leagues to want to profit from sports betting from things like integrity fees or data rights; it’s altogether different for the leagues to actively own part of a sportsbook. The optics of actively being in the sports betting business would be poor for either league, given their histories with sports gambling.

Of course, FanDuel has not made its intentions on the sports betting front known. But it appears the NBA and MLB are going to be in lockstep when it comes to sports gambling. And that means lessening their direct involvement with FanDuel and DraftKings.

What’s it all mean?

In the grand scheme of things, maybe not much.

NBA and MLB are making the move mostly to keep up appearances. Much of the relationship — including checks being cut by DraftKings and FanDuel for marketing — sounds like it will stay in place. The mechanics of where the equity stakes go is unknown, although it appears likely to go to the companies or existing shareholders via purchase.

Still, it’s slightly shocking to see MLB and NBA loosen the bonds with the two companies that they were big believers in just a few years ago.

Written by

Dustin Gouker

Dustin Gouker has been a sports journalist for more than 15 years, working as a reporter, editor and designer -- including stops at The Washington Post and the D.C. Examiner.